Winnebago County Board OKs districts, increased salary

ROCKFORD — The Winnebago County Board will be smaller and members will be paid more starting in 2012.

Kevin Haas

ROCKFORD — The Winnebago County Board will be smaller and members will be paid more starting in 2012.

Board members overwhelmingly voted Thursday to approve new single-member districts and a salary that will be an increase of $1,000 a year. The voice vote had just a few scattered “nos.” A roll call was not taken to identify who was in favor or against.

$72,000 saved
Proponents of the salary increase, which now allows board members to earn up to $8,500 a year, point out that $72,000 in taxpayer money is still saved overall because the board was reduced in size and eliminated pension eligibility for its members.

They also say the smaller board will lead to more responsibility for each member and the cost of public service is increasing.

The County Board will switch to 20 single-member districts next year. It is currently represented by two members from each of its 14 districts.

The smaller districts will mean “more phone calls, more traveling and more meetings with constituents,” said board member Dave Tassoni, D-7.

First since 2002
This is the first increase in salary for the board since 2002, Board Chairman Scott Christiansen said. The salary is intended to freeze at the new level until 2022. However, board members can, by law, adjust the salary of the position by voting to do so at least 180 days before an election. Incumbents cannot change their own salary.

The county will save $40,000 by paying for 20 board members at the new salary, compared with 28 at the current pay. It also saved $32,000 when it decided to eliminate pensions in March.

Bipartisan support
The board is required to set the salary rate when it approves new district boundaries. The new 20 single-member districts had support from Democrats and Republicans, a rare occurrence in what is typically a politically charged process. The common critique is that Republicans draw boundaries to allow Republicans to remain in control and Democrats do the same.

There were no such complaints Thursday. In fact, Democratic caucus leader George Anne Duckett even complimented Christiansen, a Republican, on the process.

“You did an excellent job of sitting us at the table and working this out,” she said.

The new boundaries were based on 2010 U.S. Census data and drawn so that each district contains about 14,700 people.

Incumbents were grouped in seven of the 20 single-member districts. Five of those districts put two or more Republicans together, and two had Democrats in the same single-member district.

‘A real credit’
Republicans control 20 of the 28 County Board seats and said they tried to draw a map that equally affected both Republicans and Democrats.

Redistricting is required to be done every 10 years.

“This is a real credit to all of you,” Christiansen told board members. “I don’t think this has ever happened in history where we’ve had an overwhelming vote on a redistricting map.”

Staff writer Kevin Haas can be reached at khaas@rrstar.com or 815-987-1410.